AES-GCM MACsec (IEEE 802.1AE) and FC-SP Cores GCM1/GCM2/GCM3

General Description

Implementation of the new LAN security standard 802.1ae (MACSec) requires the NIST standard AES cipher in the GCM mode for encryption and message authentication (AES-GCM). The GCM1 AES core is tuned for 802.1ae applications at the data rates of 1 Gbps
and higher. The GCM2 family of
cores is targeted towards high
performance applications with
high-end cores supporting data
rates in excess of 100 Gbps and ability to parallelize to achieve even higher throughput. GCM3 is similar to GCM2, but supports AES key lengths up to 256 bits.
For higher throughputs of 100
Gbps and above, use our GCM10
core family.

Cores contain the base AES core AES1 and are available for immediate licensing.

The design is fully synchronous and available in both source and netlist form.

Symbol

Base Core Features

Small size:
Starting at less than 13K
ASIC gates, 1.5 Gbps
performance at less than 20K
gates

Scalability to throughputs
of 128 bits per clock with
the capability of parallel
cores at throughputs of 100
Gbps and above

The Advanced Encryption Standard (AES) algorithm is a new NIST data encryption standard as defined in the
NIST FIPS-197.

The GCM core implementation fully
supports the AES algorithm for 128
bit keys in Galois Counter Mode
(GCM-AES or AES-GCM) as required by
the
IEEE 802.1ae standard and
NIST
SP800-38D,

The cores are designed for flow-through operation. GCM cores support encryption and decryption modes.

Implementation Results

Area Utilization and Performance

Representative area/resources figures are shown below.

Core

Technology

Area / Resources

Frequency

Throughput

GCM1-32

TSMC
65
nm G+

19,163 gates

500 MHz

1.6 Gbps

GCM1-128

TSMC
130 nm LV

30,707 gates

250 MHz

3.2 Gbps

GCM1-128

TSMC
130 nm LV

40,335 gates

500 MHz

6.4 Gbps

GCM1-128

TSMC
90 nm LV

49,633 gates

824 MHz

10.5 Gbps

GCM3-64

TSMC
90 nm LV

136,582 gates

410 MHz

26 Gbps

Export Permits

US Bureau of Industry and Security has assigned the export control classification number 5E002 to our AES cores. The core is eligible for the license exception ENC under section 740.17(A) and (B)(1) of the export administration regulations. See the licensing basics page,
for links to US government sites and more details.